PROGRESS.

In what now seems to be the yearly “Facebook note” update, here’s the bit more in-depth version of what’s been going on the last year with the overall progress to get a dog park in Oakland.

Since the last Facebook note in June 2015, the Great Oak Park officially opened the public. Dogs are allowed to be on the park property but must be leashed and must have any waste picked up and disposed of. Parking is available via a driveway entrance off of Doty Road.

Later on last summer, some initial work was done on the proposed dog park area which exposed the existing asphalt parking lot and the outer boundary of the Muller’s Park pool wall; in addition to also removing many dead, dying, and invasive brush and trees in the area. Thanks again to the volunteers who stepped up and came out to help really make the area walkable, viewable, and safer for park visitors.

In the fall and winter months of 2015 going into 2016, the Great Oak Park committee spent time preparing the steps needed for the Borough to complete the LOI which included the dog park.

In the spring though, I received the news that because of the nature of the proposed dog park site (being that it is very disturbed as is), we would be able to move forward faster than originally anticipated. In that time frame, I’ve had several conversations and meetings with members of the Great Oak Park Committee and I have worked with a good friend of mine from Glaser Landscapes who gave his time and energy in helping to create a proposed CAD drawing of what the dog park would entail and require. The Park Committee approved of my proposal and my accompanying documents in May 2016.

While I currently await a review to conclude by the Borough Engineer before I present to the Mayor & Council hopefully before summer’s end (which I hope many of you will be in attendance for in order to express your support), I have been hard at work researching grants, reaching out to organizations, while I’ve also heard from many of you who have volunteered to help take an overgrown, unused piece of space and turning into an area that both humans and dogs alike can enjoy and use.

In June, my family held a garage sale at our house with all proceeds going towards the dog park and it was a pleasure to meet many of you who heard the call and came out to support the cause. $500 total was raised and we currently plan to use that money, plus some additional funds, to go towards creating and mailing fundraising letters to local dog owners, dog related businesses and charities, different organizations, community groups, grant organizations, and of course family, friends, supporters, and connections I’ve made over the years to raise the total amount of money that will be needed to build the dog park.

We are on the cusp of finally getting the dog park we’ve all wanted and have been waiting for and I hope you check back on the page frequently to make sure you catch all the latest news and calls for action! If you or someone you know are interested in volunteering, donating, or offering a service, please let me know by emailing me at dogrun4oakland@yahoo.com or messaging the page. I can only proceed at a certain pace right now as I need to get the council’s approval first before things can really begin to progress.

So in the short term, once council approval is given, assistance will be needed to:

Help finish exposing the parking lot and remove the remaining dead and dying trees on property

Work on the fundraising letters, which would include printing the letters and envelopes and mailing them

Pass the word along to people you know who would be interested in making a donation so we can raise the amount of funds we’d need sooner rather than later

But in the meanwhile, I’ve spent hours upon hours reaching out to people to get the groundwork ready so we can get to work and get things happening as soon as approval is given. If everything goes as planned, meaning approvals are given, the funds are raised, and work is done on time, POSSIBLY we could have a dog park a year from now in Oakland.

Thank you all again for your interest, your prayers, and your support. It means a lot to me and I promise to continue to work as hard as I can to get that dog park for Oakland!

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Ryan Schwertfeger

Founder, project leader and Oakland dog park advocate since March 2009. Now a college graduate wanting to complete his 8th grade project from Valley Middle School for the humans and dogs of his community.ryanschwertfeger.com